'Cursed' steamship that vanished is discovered 114 years on

• Adella Shores vanished in 1909 with 14 crew members on board in Michigan
• 115 years since the ship disappeared, a society has now found the missing vessel
• It was found over 40 miles of its last location in over 650-feet of water 

A ‘cursed’ wooden steamship that vanished in Lake Superior in 1909 with 14 crew members on board has finally been discovered.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society say they found the Adella Shores after it went missing on May 1, 1909, in Whitefish Point, Michigan.

Adella Shores – which locals feared had been cursed after its sober owners christened it by smashing a bottle of water on its hull rather than booze – was found more than 40 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in over 650 feet of water.

The 195-foot ship was built in Gibraltar, Michigan, and weighed in at 735-ton, being owned by the Shores Lumber Company.

Footage taken of the wreckage show the large wooden appears to have remained largely intact in the water.

Adella Shores was found more than 40 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in over 650 feet of water

The 195-foot ship was built in Gibraltar, Michigan, and weighed in at 735-ton, being owned by the Shores Lumber Company

The boat was named after the daughter of the owner of the owner of Shores Lumber Company, Adella.

Adella’s sister Bessie had christened the ship with a bottle of water as the family had been strict about their consumption of alcohol.

Old time sailors see that as having been a bad lucky omen, with the Adella later going on to sink twice in shallow waters in fifteen years.

Both of those times it was refloated and put back into service before it disappeared in 1909.

On April 29th, the ship was upbound for Duluth, Minnesota, with a load of salt and had been following a larger steel steamship through a thick ice flow.

As both ships came around Whitefish Point, they were met with a fierce gale and the Adella fell behind and out of sight of the Morrell.

The ship and all fourteen crewmembers were never seen again, with some debris being found but no bodies.

The Captain of the larger steamship they had been following thinks the smaller boat might have struck a large ice flow and punctured her hull, sinking quickly.

In the summer of 2021, Director of Marine Operations with the society Darryl Ertel and his brother Dan were running grids with sonar and found the ship

The boat was named after the daughter of the owner of the owner of Shores Lumber Company, Adella

On April 29th, the ship was upbound for Duluth, Minnesota, with a load of salt and had been following a larger steel steamship through a thick ice flow

As both ships came around Whitefish Point, they were met with a fierce gale and the Adella fell behind and out of sight of the Morrell

In the summer of 2021, Director of Marine Operations with the society Darryl Ertel and his brother Dan were running grids with sonar and found the ship, seen here

Ertel said: ‘I pretty much knew that had to be the Adella Shores when I measured the length of it, because there were no other ships out there missing in that size range.

‘As soon as I put the ROV down on it for the first time, I could see the design of the ship and I could match it right up to the Adella Shores.’

Marine historian Fred Stonehouse added: ‘Not only is she a member of the ‘Went Missing’ club those ships on the Great Lakes that disappeared with all hands decades later, to be discovered. She still tells a very poignant and fascinating story.

‘The folks that are out there actively hunting for shipwrecks like the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society are helping to answer that story.

‘And they keep looking for the ones that are not yet told and not yet found. For that, they deserve the highest commendation.

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